The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Cooling systems such as refrigeration and air conditioning systems employ evaporators to absorb heat from the environment to be cooled. Cooling fluid passes through the evaporator and undergoes a change of state while proceeding from the inlet to the outlet. Micro-channels increase the efficiency of thermal exchange across the evaporator, commonly requiring only a single pass through the environment to be cooled. However, cooling fluid entering an evaporator manifold from an inlet distributor often retains at least some momentum in the flow direction of the distributor, resulting in uneven distribution of the cooling fluid into the micro-channels. This problem is particularly relevant in evaporators using micro-channels, as the small cross-sections of the micro-channel inlets may restrict flow into the micro-channels and enhance downstream momentum effects. As a result of these downstream momentum effects, the cooling fluid concentration may be substantially higher at the micro-channels located at the downstream end of the manifold. As a result of this uneven distribution, the cooling fluid in the downstream micro-channels undergoes heat exchange which is less effective and upstream micro-channels operate at below their cooling fluid capacity. Therefore, a distributor and manifold which evenly distributes cooling fluid into the micro-channels is desirable.